Magnus Carlsen, The World’s Best Chess Player Explains How His Mind Works

Inside the amazing mind of Magnus Carlsen, the number one chess player in the world

Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (Norwegian: [sʋɛn ˈmɑŋnʉs øːn ˈkɑːɭsn̩]; born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster, No. 1 ranked player in the worldand reigning World Chess Champion in classical, rapid and blitz. His peak rating is 2882, the highest in history.

A chess prodigy, Carlsen became a Grandmaster in 2004, at the age of 13 years, 148 days, making him at that time the second youngest grandmaster in history, although he has since become the third youngest. On 1 January 2010, at the age of 19 years, 32 days, he became the youngest chess player in history to be ranked world No. 1. In November 2013, Carlsen defeated Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2013, thus becoming the new world chess champion. On the May 2014 FIDE rating list, Carlsen reached his top Elo rating of 2882, the highest in history. He successfully defended his title in November 2014, once again defeating Anand.

Carlsen was known for his attacking style as a teenager and later developed into a more universal player. He does not focus on opening preparation as much as other top players and plays a variety of openings, making it harder for opponents to prepare against him. His positional mastery and endgame prowess have drawn comparisons to those of former world champions José Raúl Capablanca, Vasily Smyslov, and Anatoly Karpov.